iwetzger



M. MUZGER.

FILVI JOINING APPARATUSI APPLICATION FILED IEB. I6. 19u. IIEIIEwED MAYI, IsIs.

Patented Dec. 9,1919.

@Lv 4 SHEEISAHEEI I.

M. METZGER.

FILM JDINIIJG APPARATUS.

APPLxcANoN man FEB. 16, |917. nENEwED MAY 1,1919

. mmed Dee. 9,1919.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M. MUZEER.

lLYl )DINING 'PPRATUS.

APPLICATION mm FEB. 16, 19H,

HENEWED MAY 1,1919

Patend Dec. 9, 391),

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

MAURICE METZGER, 0F MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANAD.

:FILM-JOTNING- APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

. Patented Dec. 9, 1919..

`Application filed February 16,1917, Serial No. 149,108. Renewed May 1,1919. Serial No. 293,946.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that f, MAURICE METZGER,v a

subject of the King of Great Britain, and

resident of the city of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec and Dominionof Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvgments inFilm-Joining Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, andexact description.

This invention relates to a machine for joining or splicing movingpicture films and the like.

rlhe pictures in these films' are contained in a long strip or film insuccessive arrange ment, the film being perforated along its edges withsuitably spaced apertures that engage the sprocket wheels of theexhibit* ing machine.` lt frequently happens that the film becomesl tornor broken, making it necessary to re-join the severed ends before thefilm can be used again. This operation of joining or splicing filmsrequires that the edges be trimmed or cuff evenly, so that a perfectjoint and perfectregistration of the perforations may be obtained. alsorequires the removal of the gelatin from the under edge of one of thepieces to be joined, and the application of a cementing material theretoduring which operation the ends of the films to be joined must be heldin proper relation.

The' main object of my invention is to provide a machine which can beoperated either by hand or by means of a suitable motor,'preferably thelatter, which will automatically cut or trim the ends of the films,moisten samewith'a suitable liquid, remove thegelatin from the edge,apply a coating of cementing material, overlap the edges and hold samein position until a proper jointv or splice has been made, the entireoperation being performed automatically by' the machine without anyassistance from the operator after the machine has been set in motion.

My invention consists essentially of a suitable frame for holding themachine, having atop plate with `a slot and film tables thereon, thelatter` being slidable and provided with meansl for holding the film inposition. In the frame is a gear driven disk, carrying a knife forcutting or trimming the edges of the'films, one or more scrubbers formoistening the gelatin on the adjacent. under edges the film, one ormore brushes for removing the gelatin, one

or more driers or burnishers for drying the 'cleaned edges, a cementbrush for applying 2 is a side elevation of the machine showing theoperating gears.

Fig. 3 is an elevation 'of the reverse side of the machine showing thedisk, carrying the brushes, etc.

Fig. d is a perspective view showing the under side of the table.

Fig. 5 is a -top plan view of the machine.

6 is a perspective 'view of the liquid troughs. I

'.7 is a detail view of the buffer brush.

Fig. 8 is a detail view of' a scrubbing4 brush.

Fig. 9 is a detail View of the cement brush. l0- is a detail view. ofthe knife.

Fig. ll is detail view of the presserwheei.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, fr designates a suitablerectangular frame, provided with a base plate 16 and a top plate l?.'llhis top plate has a transverse slot f8 extending across same, and apair of film tables 19 and 20, these film tables having a limitedsliding movement to permit the joined ends of the films to beoverlapped. The film table 19 is provided with 'pins 2i which engage theapertures or perforations 22m the film 23, to 'hold said im in position.Hinged clampsy 2 are also adapted to hold the films firmly in place onthe film tables, and these clamps are held in position by the thumb nuts25.

ln order to match the films, so that they may be joined and overlappedattire' proper point, l provide one of the filmtables 191 ywith anadjusting gage inthe form of a screw 19a, provided .with a block i9",which is secured to the table 19 through a slot in. the table i7. rll`hescrew 19tis preferably located on the under side ofthe top table r 17,extending through the side flangeand being adjustable by means or thumb.f

"the cement to ,in l

ein seeuretl te mi.

Wheel 29 'th r Wheei 3U ere ioosely :non eti e (it 27, While ,gear v'f"j d o the sha-'tt 27. This geer Wn ys `with the worm erive'e hi ne Wormet e low epee". .Tite Wheel El@ Fseing ize snett 27 enti trovera .fr eiorv re. i,

lr s.)

Gerrie the brush i rotated op intermeshi l 82C mounted iooseif on tneelisir. 'the opposa: "nef elisir from the i Y brushes enel huii'ing orscrubbing Wnieh rotated hy means er the ein, The Vwire cleaning brushesf end. 453 ere roteteai hy mea-ns 'Wheels 33,. 54;, and 3G respectively,while Lne buffer 43 is operated of he smeli gear Wheel 38, which iseonneetei to the .gear Wheei 33 through the trein 1 LD m Si', eieerlyshown in 2. ine eement hrnsn A- or applying; the cement or glue is el bymeens of the smell -L is eementtrush is desa v when receiving a supp dvom the" trough and when eneljing Ane under side oitr gear Wheel ieri toroo cement i n ie ihn. transit :trom the loot-tom to 'tney tog themachine, the cement brush. is station- "fli relation to the their. &8.This i -ent hrush, however, es it travels 'through #he eement trough isrotated hy ineens of the `weer Wheel esta, engaging the toothed raelrIl@ located on the ripper Side or the cement c@ trough hereinei'terreferred to.

tno cement *omisnreeches the to@ of .1 when the eend about 'to empl-fnement 1e film', the rear `Wheel 1 engages the toothed rack Lille mor.teal on the under siele oil the 'table T17 :irljieeent lthe slot itl,enel. ro`v Cl thereh Iountefl 'moon the rotetnig Vnislr are' e sertiehing shes e5, a, 45h and 45, preferably of ruh er, which are adapted tonioisten the under side of' the film, so that the gelatin may he moreeasily removed therefrom. The disk also carries e knife et@ which isadapted to operate in the slot 18 to trim the of the liims. A presserWheel 4'( is mounted on the disk, which is adopted to hold theoverieppeil ends of the Elms firmly 'er the glue has been tapplied.

13o provide means for automatiieningr the scrubbing brushes and ingcement to the cement lorush, Lt sii'nroeted osciiintingr trough 48Wer-ter cell 49 on one side and e ee- 'ifhis trough ed to oseillete onthe post or spindle 5- imperteoi` to the shaft by rever 52, whichcarries link;

fl eonneeteel to the erm fastened to the sp le .This hnirl is actuatedby` W tne eem 53 mounted on the mein spindle :t slight ariel move- 'ivethe the trouejh 'to oseillete nnoertrongh, en the",y ness ti e entierside of the elisir, hut as soon es Vement or gine brush iiipasses 'tothe i r sirle of the Wheel, the cement or glue een willv he elinei withthe wheel, so rglue or cement may he dipped ne by' the eelnent brush.VEhe upper side o' "l f trough the 'cement oeil is provided 'with etoothed rech 44h adapted to rotate the cement brush While it istraveling through the trough, as above described. Water is feti to 'theWater cell hv means of any suitelole bottle reservoir 54, which keepsthe Water eeli et e proper level by means ofeny Weil known automaticvalve 55, such as that nseol for mineral Water bottle fountains.Similarly, gine or cement is 'feel to the ee ment cell hy ineens of thehottie reservoir 56, which is provided with e similar automatic.fountain valve 57. The cement Celi may he `provided with e pivoted coverplate 59 heid normally in positionon the cover hy means oi e spring GO.,to prevent evaporation of the il. spring 61, secured et one eno, to enerm 62 mounted on the spindle 51 and se cured at the opposite end 63 tothe frame i5, is adapted to hold the trough normally i" nroper position.

order to provide means for automatieelly overlapping the enfls of thefilms, as soon 'es the cement is applied, the film table 20 rovitleclwith e pair of springs G4. se-

@t one end to the nncler sirio of the film jfne and et the opposite endto the under sioie of 'the top plete to fhew 'the lm table 20 toward theslot 18. While the severai operations of cutting, moistening, brushingand eementing film are being performed the lug 66 on the underside ofthe table. As

soon, however, as the cement has been applied, a lever arm 58 carriedupon the main shaft 27 is timed to strike the catch 65 and disengage itfrom the lug. 66. the lever 58 moves the catch 65, the springs 64 drawthe table 20, upon which one of the films is mounted, toward the slot,carrying the film ends into overlapped relation. This film table 2O iSalso provided on its outer end with a lip 67 secured to the table bycoil springs 68, which .permit the lip to have a slight verticalmovement. The cover plate 24 on the opposite side is provided with apair of springs 69, which when the cover plate is clamped in positionpress on the lip, thus forcing one of the film ends to slide under theother.

The operation of the machine is as follows The film endsy are superposedand overlapped one on the table 19 and the other on the table 20, bothwith the emulsion side down. The pins in the table 19 are'engaged in theperforations along the edges of the film, and the clamps 24 are-closeddown and held in position by the thumbnuts 25. The

power is then turned on and the disk 28 is rotated. The knife 46havingits point extending through the slot 18 in the top plate cuts bofthfilms off' square along one edge of the slot. The rubber brush 45,having been previously dipped in the water cell of the oscillatingtrough, then passes the film and moistens .the emulsion on the underedge of same. This moistening brush may either be located on the disk infront of the "knife or behind it, as is found most convenient. Therevolving brush 42, which is provided with small wire brushes, nextengages the under side of the moistened film to remove partof theemulsion therefrom. A second rubber brush 45, which has also been dippedin the w-ater cell, again applies moisture to the.

emulsion and the succeeding wire brush 41 cleans off' more of thegelatin. This operation is followed in exactly the same manner by thirdand fourth brushes 45b-and 45.and

wire brushes 40 and. 39, which entirely remove the gelatin or emulsionfrom the film. The operation may be clearly followed by reference toFig. 3. The film is then operits ated upon by meanslof the dry buffer orburnisher 43, which travels between the water cell and the cement cell,as the trough oscillates, and consequently remains dry to polish theunder side of the film. Following the burnishing brush 43 is the tementbrush 44, which has entered the glue or cement cell of the trough, asthe latter oscillated into position and has been rotated dur'- ing itstravel through the cement cell by means ofthe pinion 44a coperating withthe As soon as toothed rack 44". This cementbrush is notrotated duringtransit from the trough to the aim, but when lit metes the fam, thelpinion 44a' is engaged by the toothed rack 44 on the under edge if thetable, so as to rotate the brush, while the glue is being applied to thefilm. After this operation, the lever arm 58 strikes the catch 65pivoted on the under side of the to table, and. releases the film table20, which by means of the springs 64 is moved slightly forward, sothat'one film end is carried under the other cemented end of the film.The springs 69 myself to the precise form shown, as many changes andmodifications may be made without departing from rthe spiritof myinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1.' A machine forjoining films, compris.- ing a pair of tables for holding the film ends,and means for automatically and suc-f cessively cutting, scraping,washing, cementing and overlapping the filmy ends to form an overlappedjoint. l

2. A machine for joining films, comprising. a pair of tables for holdingthe film ends, and means for. automatically and successively cutting thefilm, cleaning the V emulsion from the under side washing and dryingsame, applying cement, overlapping the ends, and pressing the overlappedends together to form a cemented joint.

' 3. A machine for joining films, comprising a pair of tables forholding the lm ends, means for cutting or trimming the' ends of thefilms, means for moistening and cleaning the gelatin from the under sideof the film, means for applying cement to the cleaned portion, and meansfor automatically moving one of the film tables to allow the cementededges to form an overlapped joint.

4. In a film joining machine, a 4pair of tables for holding the adjacentends of the films, meansl for cutting and trimming the film ends, meansfor successively moistening, brushing and polishing the under side ofthe film to thoroughly clean the gelatin therefrom, means for a plying acoating of cement to the cleaneY edge of the film, means forautomatically moving' one of the film tables to allow the edges of thefilms to losv lll

overlap, and means for pressing ,the overlapped edges together to form acemented joint.

5., nlm splicing machine, comprising a pair of tables for holding thefilm ends, a rotating disk, a knife mounted on said disk for trimmingthe film ends, moistening and brushing devices mounted on the diskadapted to clean the film edges, a cementing device mounted on saiddisk, and an oscillating liquid trough mounted below the disk.

6. fi `hlm joining machine, comprising a pair of tables for holding thefilm ends, a rotating disk provided with means for cutting, cleaning andapplying cement to the adjacent edges of the film, a liquid troughmounted below said disk,and means for oscillating said trough to applyliquid to 'e cleaning and cementing devices.

a film joining machine, a pair of tables for holding the film ends, arotating slr, knife carried by said disk, .a series oi cleaning andscrubbing brushes carried by e dish, a brush for applying cement alsocarried by said disk, means for automatically supplying liquid to thescrubbin brushes to moisten the film ends, means for automaticallysupplying cement to the cement brush,l and means for automaticallyoverlapping' the cemented edges of the films to form an overlappedjoint.

8. .fi machine of the character described, comprising a pair of tablesfor holding the f film ends, rotatable disk, and means carried by thedisk for automatically cutting the ends of the film, removing thegelatin therefrom, applying a coating of cem it, moving one of thetables to allow une abutting edges of the film to overlap, and forpressing the cemented edgesof the film together.

9. .fr machine of the character described, comprising a pair ofadjustable tables for holding the film ends, a rotatable disk.oscillating liquid 'trough mounted below said disk, means for feedingcement into one side of said trough and Water into the other side, aknife for cutting or trimming the edges of the film, brushes adapted todip into the Water trough for moistening the film, brushes carried bythe dislr adapted to remove the gelatin from the film, a polishercarried by said disk, a cement brush carried by the disk, means forapplying cement from the cement trough to said brush, means forautomatically moving one of the tables Y to allow the edges of the tooverlap, and a presser roll carried by the disk for pressing thecemented edges of the film together.

l0. A machine of the character described, comprising a pair ofadjustable tables for holding the adjacent ends of the films, f-

Y 'a' o 'f e l 4 rotatable dass carrying cutting,- noistening,

assenso cleaning and cementing means for the film ends, a movable lipcarried by one of said tables, and means acting on said lip for forcingthe edge of one film under the edge of the other film.

l1. A machine of the character described, comprising a pair of tablesfor holding the film ends, a lip carried by one of said tables forapplying pressure to one end of the film, a rotatable disk, meanscarried by said disk for successively cutting the ends of the film,cleaning the gelatin therefrom, applying a coating of cement, andoverlappin the film ends to make a cemented joint, a liquid trough, andmeans for oscillating said trough to apply Water to the cleaning devicesand glue to the cementing device.

12. In a film splicing machine, means for cleaning, and cementing thefilm ends, and means for successively supplying cleaning and cementingfluids to said cleaning and ce inenting means.

13. In a film splicing machine, film clean ing and film cementingdevices traveling in a common path, separate containers for cleaning andcementing fluids, and means for moving said containers into and out ofthe path of the cleaning and cementing devices.

14:. In a film splicing machine, film holding means, film cleaning andfilm ccmenting devices, containers for film cleaning and film cementingfluids, means carrying said cleaning and cementing devices fromreceptacles to thefffilm holder, and means for shifting the receptacleswhereby the cement receptacle is brought into the path of the cementingdevice, and the cleaning fluid receptacle into the path of'the cleaningdevice.

15. In a film splicing apparatus, film cutting, cleaning, burnishing,cementing and pressing devices movable in a common path, a receptaclehaving compartments for clean ing fluid and cement, and means forshifting said receptacle to bring the cement compartment thereof intothe path of said devices onlv during the passage the cement ing devicethrough the zone of the receptacle, and the cleaning fluid compartmentinto the path of said devices only during passage of the clean-ingdevices through the zone of the receptacle, and both compartments out ofthe path of said devices during passage of the cutting, burnishing andpressing devices in the zone of said receptacle.

16. In a film splicing apparatus, film cleaning, burnishing andcementing devices, a cellular fluid receptacle, means for shifting saidreceptacle to bring certain cells thereof into the path of the cleaningand cementinfr devices, and for moving the rcceptacle out of the path ofthe burnishing ne character described,

Lamme@ 5 comprising a pair of tables for holding the film ends, meansfor successively cutting, moistening, cleaning and applying cement tothe film ends, a movable lip carried by one 5 of the tables, andmeansacting on said lip for overlapping the abutting edges of the films.

18. In a ilm splicing machine, a rotating disk, and means carried by thedisk for suc- 10 cessively trimming, moistening, cleaning,

drying and applying cement to the film.L

19. In a film splicing machine, film moistening and film cementingdevices traveling in a common path, separate containers for moisteningand cementing fluids, and means for moving said containers into and outof the path of the moistening and cementing devices.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

MAURICE METZGER.

